June 2012 MMA News Archive - Page 5

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Wanderlei Silva proved once again on Saturday night that win, lose, or draw he is always going to be involved in exciting fights.
Following UFC 147, UFC President Dana White was asked about that very scenario unfolding, and he shot down the idea of Silva getting the fight with Belfort next.
“(Vitor’s next fight) It will not be against Wanderlei, he just lost tonight. When Vitor heels up, we will see what happens and go from there,” White stated when speaking to Fuel TV following the fights.
It appears that if Silva wants to finish off his long time feud with Belfort, he’s going to have to win at least another fight before the UFC will put that match up together.

Following his first-round knockout of Mike Russow at UFC 147 on Saturday night, Werdum said he was ready to take on heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos -- should the UFC desire. However, if the promotion has other plans, “Vai Cavalo” has no problem fighting again before challenging for the title.
“For sure, I’m close [to a title shot] now. If the UFC asks, then I’m ready for sure,” Werdum told Fox Sports after his win, “but maybe [I will have] one more fight, maybe on the [Cain] Velasquez-dos Santos card. After that, if I win, maybe I will fight [the champion] in Brazil. I don’t know. I’m just here to fight.”

#superfightleague has just signed Jeff Monson, Satoshi Ishii, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou & Michael Page #MMA" exclusive 4 fight deal.
Via press release:
SFL CEO Ken Pavia said: "Jeff Monson has achieved a high level of success fighting all over the world. We are very excited to add him to our roster and test him in our elite HW division. He is always entertaining and is one of the true personalities of the sport."
Ishii said: "I'm excited to be a part of SFL. I expect great performances from myself and I am ready to fight."
Sokoudjou said: "I am excited to have found a home in a major organization. SFL has put together some talented fighters. I see explosive fights in my future!"
British based Welterweight kickboxing champion Michael Page (2 - 0) has made a huge impact in his short career, being dubbed the UK's Anderson Silva due to his unconventional fighting style. One of the UK's most promising young fighters, Page is an exciting addition to the SFL roster.

Fedor's retirement bout, ONE FC producing a crazy soccer kick KO, UFC on FX 4 and UFC 147. All of that happened in a span of a few days making it a big weekend for MMA fans. There were several fun bouts, and there were naturally a few head-scratchers during a stretch which had dozens of fights packed in a short time span.
When watching the two back-to-back UFC main events though, there was one prevalent idea that kept sticking out for me -- the need to properly utilize the 10-point must system.
On the UFC on FX 4 headliner, Clay Guida for the most part, pranced around and refused to engage against Gray Maynard.
For the first few rounds, nothing truly significant happened, and no one really 'won' those rounds. Even basing it on the numbers, the difference of strikes landed for both fighters were too close having just 3-5 relatively insignificant strikes separating them for the first three stanzas. Those rounds were as close as you will ever get, making it perfect example of true 10-10 rounds. There were no takedowns, or any grappling whatsoever, so the call should've been easier. Yet for some unknown reason, the judges still felt that they had to give a winner to all of those rounds, eventually leading to a very questionable split decision.

If you were at least sort-of interested in last night’s Bellator 71, then you walked away last night satisfied. If you had no interest in the event prior, and just happened to catch the fights that weren’t on FX, you undoubtedly walked away impressed by the action. Not to spoil the recap, but only one fight on the entire card, an undercard bout between Kevin Zalac and Chris Goldbaugh, went the distance. The main card of Bellator 71 more than made up for the anti-climactic finish to Guida vs. Maynard, providing fight fans with quick knockouts and submissions throughout the evening.
If you were expecting Travis Wiuff to steamroll Chris Davis on his way to claiming what is rightfully his, you weren’t surprised – but you also weren’t impressed. Wiuff managed to get the first round knockout, yet he didn’t necessarily excite fans with his performance. The fight was a wall-and-stall heavy performance, with Wiuff overpowering Davis, earning a takedown and then punching out Davis with just under one minute left in the round.
Wiuff’s bullying style isn’t always the most exciting thing to watch, but it’s hard to question its effectiveness. Add on the size advantage that Wiuff has over most opponents - ”Diesel” has fought at heavyweight for most of his career – and it’s hard not to imagine him earning a rematch with Christian M’Pumbu by the end of the summer. Wiuff is now 67-14 (1 NC) in his career.

The Ultimate Fighter has been a stalwart of the UFC in the United States. It was once the savior of the promotion and has found its way through 15 seasons.
This year, the UFC finally launched its first international flavor of the reality series, although it wasn’t in the country that most had initially expected.
Most signs over the past couple of years had pointed to Canada as a likely candidate for TUF’s first expansion, but the company instead launched it in Brazil.
The show has been massively successful, drawing a reported 12 million viewers in Brazil, according to UFC president Dana White. The finals of the series were held at UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II on Saturday night in Belo Horizonte.

Saturday night's UFC 147 pay-per-view drew an announced attendance of 16,643 fans in the promotion's debut in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
UFC officials announced the number at the event's post-fight news conference, which was attended by MMAjunkie.com. Live gate figures for the card were not immediately available.
UFC 147 took place at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on Facebook and FX.

The long-awaited Vitor Belfort-Wanderlei Silva rematch didn't happen on Saturday, but the UFC still has its sights on the two meeting again.
A broken hand suffered last month by Belfort knocked him out of the UFC 147 main event against Silva, whom he had coached against in the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil." Rich Franklin took his place and won a unanimous decision.
But the UFC is targeting its next event in Brazil – likely October in Rio de Janeiro – for Belfort and Silva to finally meet again.

Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira (5-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) claimed victory in the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" with a hard-fought decision win over fellow middleweight Sergio Moraes at UFC 147, but it came with an asterisk.
Moraes, who lost during his run on "TUF: Brazil," was a replacement opponent for Daniel Sarafian (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury.
While it's still uncertain when Sarafian will return, he just might have an opponent waiting. UFC exec Marshall Zelaznik said the company is looking to get rid of the caveat.
"I can tell you that post-fight, (UFC president) Dana (White) mentioned to me that he looks forward to seeing [Sarafian] fight 'Mutante' to try and gain sort of what was taken from him through the injury," Zelaznik said at Saturday evening's UFC 147 post-event press conference, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) attended. "I expect that fight to happen at some point in the future."

Rony "Jason" Mariano Bezerra was rattled.
After winning "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" and picking up his first UFC win as part of a pay-per-view event in his home country, the Brazilian featherweight called it both the happiest and saddest day in his MMA career.
Why? He couldn't wear his trademark Jason Voorhees mask to the octagon.
Bezerra (11-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) had worn the hockey mask, which was popularized by the "Friday the 13th" horror series, throughout his career. But at UFC 147, which took place at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, he wasn't permitted.
So after defeating Godofredo "Pepey" de Oliveira (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) via unanimous decision, he voiced his disappointment.
"Today was the happiest day of my life, but it was also the saddest," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I've carried with me this Jason mask since my first fight. And for the first time, in my dream – which was to fight in the UFC – I wasn't allowed to walk in with the mask.

The former middleweight “Ace” was slated to face Cung Le at UFC 148 on July 7. Instead, he obliged the promotion’s request and moved up his calendar by two weeks, walking into hostile territory and taking a unanimous decision against Wanderlei Silva in a190-pound catch-weight contest at Felipe Drumond Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
The win marked Franklin’s first in-cage appearance in 18 months and his first win in two years. The Ohio native had been sidelined since injuring his shoulder last summer while preparing for a meeting with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 133.
His “Fight of the Night”-winning performance now behind him, Franklin says that he hopes to finish his career at middleweight, ideally with a belt around his waist.

The UFC didn’t want to do a third fight between Anderson and me, and that was understandable. I lost both of those fights pretty convincingly, but enough time has passed now,” said Franklin. “I’m not going to be able to make a title run at 205 [pounds]. I’m just not big enough. So, I talked to the UFC about dropping back down to 185. If I can put some wins together, then maybe we’ll shoot for a title before I retire. I’m 37, and I’m getting up there in years.

UFC 152, which is currently scheduled to take place on Sept. 22, 2012, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was originally going to be headlined by a rematch between Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight championship.
No longer.
Indeed, UFC President Dana White revealed on the UFC 147 post-show on FUEL TV that unforeseen issues have caused the bout to be pushed back to a later date.

Yes, that fight will happen. I don't know when and I don't know where. That is going to depend on Junior. The fight will happen, but probably not in Toronto [at UFC 152].

Rich Franklin said he didn't think cage rust would be an issue after a 16-month layoff, and he proved to be right.
Instead, the issue was a resilient Wanderlei Silva, whom Franklin had to survive to win a unanimous decision on Saturday night in the pair's rematch.
The 190-pound catch-weight fight took place at UFC 147 at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It served as the main event on the pay-per-view following prelims that aired on Facebook and FX.

Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, Rodrigo Damm and Marcos "Vina" Vinicius on Saturday won $65,000 bonuses for their performances at UFC 147.
Franklin and Silva shared the "Fight of the Night" award for their five-round main-event, Damm won "Submission of the Night" and Vinicius picked up "Knockout of the Night." UFC officials announced the winners and bonus amounts at the post-event press conference, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) attended.
UFC 147 took place at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims that on Facebook and FX.
For Franklin and Silva, it was the second time their main event has picked up "Fight of the Night" honors. Their first fight, at UFC 99 three years ago, also won the award. Franklin won that fight by unanimous decision. And on Saturday, he was able to do it again – but in a five-round war that had him needing to survive a major offensive surge from Silva in the second.

Brian Ebersole on Friday moved his UFC record to 4-0 as a welterweight – and picked up a milestone 50th victory as a pro.
So it was slightly odd for him to admit he's thinking about changing weight classes, just a couple hours after his latest win.
Ebersole (50-14-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) survived a rough start against T.J. Waldburger to rebound and win a unanimous decision on the main card of UFC on FX 4.
UFC on FX 4 took place at Revel Atlantic City in New Jersey. The event's main card aired on FX, and the prelims aired on FUEL TV and streamed on Facebook.
"I'm sick of being a giant killer," Ebersole said at Friday's post-fight news conference, which was attended by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"If that starts to happen, I'm going to make a very concerted effort to become a lightweight."

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has medically suspended seven fighters from Friday's UFC on FX 4 event.
Main-event winner Gray Maynard and co-main-event victor Sam Stout are among the suspended.
Stout, in fact, was one of three fighters suspended indefinitely along with preliminary-card competitors Joey Gambino and Nick Catone.

In another three-round battle, Sam Stout (17-7-1 MMA, 6-6 UFC) on Friday wrapped up a rare MMA trilogy with Spencer Fisher (24-8 MMA, 9-7 UFC).
But it likely will be the last fight for Fisher, who had hinted in the weeks leading up to the rubber match that it might be his final bout before retirement.
After his unanimous decision victory at UFC on FX 4, Stout paid tribute to his opponent.
"We've spent 45 minutes in that cage together," Stout said at the post-fight press conference, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) attended. "We've got a bond together that is a pretty rare thing – to go through a trilogy like that and have three wars with the same opponent. My hat's off to him. He's a class act. We spoke after the fight. If I get out of the press conference before they stop selling drinks tonight, I'm going to go buy him a beer."

Japan many no longer the seat of MMA's Asian scene, but the ghosts of PRIDE were visible Saturday at ONE Fighting Championship 4: Destiny of Warriors at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Harkening back to the days of soccer kicks and stomps, UFC and Bellator veteran Roger Huerta was savagely albeit legally soccer kicked into unconsciousness at the 3:53 mark of round two in his bout with Zorobel Moreira.
Renato Sobral def. Tatsuya Mizuno by submission (armbar) at :31 of round 1
Zorobabel Moreira def. Roger Huerta by KO (soccer kick) at 3:53 of round 2
Leandro Issa def. Masakazu Imanari by unanimous decision
Adam Kayoom def. Gregor Gracie by unanimous decision

Less than a year after obtaining permission to use medically prescribed testosterone, Shane Roller decided that changes to his diet and training are, for now, a better choice while continuing his fight career.
"I'm training a little bit smarter," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I'm ready to go compete, but I'm getting my body ready in a different way."
The endocrinologist who helped Roller get permission believes he needs the hormone to compete. Roller, though, has serious misgivings about its use.
He recently informed Nevada State Athletic Commission officials that he won't maintain the therapeutic-use exemption he obtained from them in June 2011, less than a month before he fought Melvin Guillard at UFC 132.
"I see what happens with the guys who have done it and abused it, and I don't want to be in that category at all," he said.
"If you're taking it right and doing what your doctor is saying, they should never be prescribing to where you'll test out of range," Roller said. "There are guys that are doing that. There are guys taking regular steroids, which is the same thing. They're taking regular steroids and cheating, so people are going to get caught that are doing it."